Meloni Becomes Italy’s Longest-Serving Prime Minister, and She Deserves It

Giorgia Meloni has set a new record as Italy’s longest continuously serving prime minister, remaining in office for 1,412 consecutive days. That puts her ahead of Silvio Berlusconi, who served 1,411 days across four separate terms.

The achievement stands out in a country that has gone through 65 governments in the 80 years since the end of the Second World War. Most postwar governments were socialist, reflecting the lesson many Italians drew from Benito Mussolini’s disastrous fascist rule, which lasted for more than two decades.

Meloni’s rise marked the first time that her far-right Brothers of Italy came to power, after the 2022 parliamentary elections. The party is described in the article as openly fascist in origin, but Meloni acted cautiously after taking office. She distanced herself and the party from Mussolini and said Italian fascism had been consigned to history.

That position represented an effort to separate her government from the country’s fascist past. The article presents her ability to remain in office as a notable political achievement against Italy’s long record of government changes.

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The fascism of Italy has been handed over to history.